Skip to main content

Everton takeover triggers loan repayment

Everton’s prospective new owners 777 Partners will have to pay back £140 million provided by two lenders for the club’s new stadium should their deal to buy out Farhad Moshiri proceed.

MSP Sports Capital offered a £100 million loan after their own attempt to acquire some of Moshiri’s shares collapsed, while businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing also put down about £40 million towards the completion of the 52,888-capacity arena at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Under the terms of the deals, however, a change of ownership would mean that those loans have to be repaid and Miami-based 777 Partners are now set to request meetings with both parties in the hope of keeping them involved.

While sources suggest that 777 and Moshiri are confident of a positive outcome with the creditors, any hitch would increase the financial burden on the US firm, who would have to find fresh funding for the £550 million stadium, cover Everton’s running costs and also have money for strengthening the team. Everton have already been lent a sum in the region of tens of millions of pounds by 777, to help with short-term capital working requirements and the stadium build.

Another lender, Rights and Media Funding, are said to be on board with Moshiri’s proposed sale, having objected to a deal tabled by MSP last month.   Football finance guru Kieran Maguire comments: ‘Rights & Media Funding Ltd, the mysterious company with no employees, hardly any assets except a loan book and £300m of debts from Cyprus and the Bahamas.’

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion.  Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs.  An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

Reports about Charlton sale exaggerated

Reports have appeared in The Guardian and elsewhere that Charlton has been put up for sale. Richard Cawley is an authoritative local journalist who runs a South London Sport substack site.  He reached out to the club yesterday evening to ask for comment on The Guardian’s article. Early indications from the club have been that nothing has changed since the story about them seeking investment, except that it is now a different company doing it. Charlton have since managed to consolidate their place in the Championship, avoiding an instant return to League One, with their women’s side promoted to the WSL, returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007, although staying there is likely to be costly. It would be counter-intuitive for owners Global Football Partners not to progress the club when looking for investment, that the focus remains on driving it forward, that their spend this summer is in line with long-term planning and will see an increase in wages spent on players...

Hull City's 'strange' loan

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned.  He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long.  What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do